Saudi Arabia to increase Umrah pilgrims to 2 mln per month from Aug. 9

The Grand Mosque of Makkah

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah will begin receiving Umrah pilgrimage requests, starting Aug. 9, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing Abdulfattah bin Sulaiman Mashat, Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah.

This will gradually increase the number of pilgrims to two million per month, or 60,000 pilgrims daily, divided into eight operating periods.

The number of passengers will not exceed 50% of the bus capacity, and passengers should abide by social distancing guidelines, while using sanitizers, he added.

Transport centers and meeting points were prepared in line with the highest health precautionary measures, he indicated.

The ministry is also coordinating with the competent authorities to determine the number of pilgrims, together with certain precautionary measures pertaining to the countries from which the pilgrims will come.

Pilgrims will have to include authorized COVID-19 vaccination certificates along with their Umrah requests. Vaccinated pilgrims from countries that Saudi Arabia includes on its entry-ban list will have to be institutionally quarantined upon arrival, added Mashat.